Despatches from the world of Harry Potter
by yellow 14
Summary: A series of drabbles. Created to be in the forum-wide competition set up by tat1312, delete-the-girl, thegirlofcrazy and Schermionie
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter and if you are really that stupid, send me all your money and I'll give you the elixir of eternal life.

AN: Based on the first prompt of a competition, the word is roll. This is set sometime during the start of GoF, after the Quidditch World Cup but before they return to Hogwarts. Also, Remus Lupin is training the golden trio Judo, for the purpose of this little drabble.

"Fred and George Weasley, what are you doing in the kitchen!" Molly Weasley yelled, making both twins jump round. As she opened her mouth, Fred cut in.

"Nothing at all, mum. Really." He said, giving her a winning smile in the process. Mrs Weasley simply glared harder.

"Don't you trust us Mum?" George asked in a mock-hurt tone. "Us, your beloved sons?"

"I know you too well." She growled and both twins assumed a mock-look of horror.

"We're only making a few bacon rolls!" Fred protested, standing aside to show her a few bacon rolls on a tray.

"Just bacon rolls?" She asked suspiciously.

"Of course mum-"

"-Food is far to sacred-"

"-To waste on pranks, -"

"Especially not our lovely bacon!" the twins said together. Mrs Weasley didn't look convinced, so they decided to press on.

"We'll even try one at random, if you really like." George suggested.

"You can pick one up and we'll eat it." Fred added. Mrs Weasley's glare lessened.

"Why are you guys making rolls anyway?" Ron asked as he walked into the kitchen. Fred leaned over with a plate and offered one to him, while George leaned over and offered one to Harry.

"We thought that you'd appreciate a snack before your Judo lesson with Remus." Fred said cheerfully.

"He makes you work so hard, it shouldn't be on an empty stomach." George finished in a motherly voice. Harry and Ron looked at the twins suspiciously.

"Really, we'll eat one first so you can see it's harmless!" Fred protested, grabbing one of the rolls and stuffing it into his mouth. (Needless to say, Ron wasn't the only Weasley who could do that.) After watching Fred suspiciously for five minutes, Ron and Harry tucked into the rolls.

"T'nks guys." Ron said through a mouth full of bacon roll.

"Yeah, these rolls are pretty good." Harry said as soon as he finished swallowing.

"Hermione, my dear, why don't you have some?" George called over to Hermione, who shook her head.

"Thanks, but I prefer to eat afterwards." Hermione replied primly, before turning to face Harry and Ron. "Besides, we DON'T HAVE TIME!"

Both Harry and Ron jumped to their feet and mutely followed Hermione as she led them out of the kitchen.

Less than ten minutes later, Ron swallowed. It was his turn next and he knew it.

"Ron, Harry, I'd like you to do a rolling front break fall please." Remus told them firmly. Ron looked at Harry and Harry looked right back at him. Swallowing again, Ron nodded and both of them threw themselves forward into what was basically a roll.

As Harry finished his rolling front break fall, coming to his feet in a single fluid motion, he felt his skin tingle slightly. Looking down, he noticed his skin slowly turning Slytherin green. Rapidly turning his head toward Ron, he saw that Ron was also turning Slytherin green.

"I'm going to kill them!" Harry snarled and Ron nodded in agreement.

"They set us up. Gits." Ron said, while Hermione looked very pointedly away, but even then, the corners of her mouth were turned slightly upwards.

00000000000000000000000

Approximately two hours later

"It's a shame we weren't able to get 'Mione to have a roll, then they'd have been the green trio." George commented laconically as he reclined back onto his bed.

"It's a good thing you didn't." Hermione said firmly at the bedroom door, causing Fred and George to suddenly jump up. "How come Fred isn't Slytherin green anyway? I know he ate one of your rolls."

"You need to roll after you've eaten one of the rolls." Fred answered with a grin.

"Well, if I where you, I'd start looking for a place to hide. Ron and Harry aren't exactly pleased with you." Hermione said as a huge smile crept onto her face.

Ginny laughed at the sight that greeted her as she looked out of her bedroom window. A pair of green and obviously angry figures were chasing Fred and George around the garden.

"It was only a joke!" Fred and George protested loudly as hexes started flying at them.


	2. A blue and yellow bumblebee

Disclaimer: What? I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! DAMN YOU, TOOTH FAIRY!

AN: This is the response to the second challenge in the competition. This time, to write about two people and at least one must be in the Hogwarts house you belong to. In this case, it's Hufflepuff. So now I present to you a probably unique pairing of Susan Bones and Cho Chang. Other pairings involved are Cho/Cedric, Cho/Harry, Cho/Michael Corner and Susan/Neville.

AN2: Susan is in Harry's year at Hogwarts.

The first time Susan met Cho Chang in person was the day before the leaving feast, at the end of Susan's fourth year. Susan was just coming out of a secret passage (NOBODY could spend four years at Hogwarts and not know at least ONE secret passageway.) when she heard the sound of a girl sobbing in the next cubicle.

"Hello?" Susan asked cautiously. "Is there anybody there?"

The cubicle door opened and Susan eyes met a pair of almond shaped ones that most of Hufflepuff probably would've recognised. With her face streaked with tears though, Cho Chang was a mess and nothing like the constantly cheerful and bubbly girl that had captured Cedric Diggory's heart. Susan could not help but feel sorry for her and asked. "Do you want to talk?"

Cho's answer was a fresh of tears and Susan did the only thing she could think of and pulled the older girl into a hug. Cho's tears soaked into Susan's shoulder and Susan tried to ignore the strange tingling running through her at the older girl's closeness. As Cho finished crying and turned to leave the toilets, she turned to Susan and murmured a small thanks.

The second time they met was during the summer holidays. Susan was in Diagon Alley, shopping for school supplies for her OWL year. Suddenly a little boy, no more than seven or eight years old collided with her midriff and sent her bags flying.

"Harry Chang, what have you done now?" Susan heard an exasperated-sounding woman ask in a Scottish accent. Looking up, she saw a woman who was presumably the boy's mother. And standing beside her was none other than Cho Chang.

"I'm sorry about that." Cho said as she helped Susan to her feet. "My little brother's not exactly the most careful person in town." Cho paused and stared at Susan curiously, clearly trying to place Susan's face.

"I'm Susan Bones, from Hufflepuff." Susan said firmly. A sudden burst of comprehension lit up Cho's face, followed by a look of extreme mortification and embarrassment.

"Oh, you were that 'Puff girl who helped me…" Cho let the sentence drift and Susan nodded.

"Yes that's right." Susan replied and Cho opened her mouth to speak, when Cho's mother interrupted.

"Excuse me, but didn't you say you were in Hufflepuff?" Cho's mother asked curiously and Susan nodded. "Then why would my daughter -a Ravenclaw no less- need help from a witch so lacking that she ended up in Hufflepuff?"

Susan glared angrily at the woman. "For your information, Hufflepuffs aren't rejects from other houses, but a house in their own right, with attributes of their own. And not all help is intellectual." And with that, Susan stormed off angrily. How dare Cho's mother suggest that she was LACKING because she was in Hufflepuff.

The third time Susan and Cho talked was during Umbridge's time at Hogwarts, just after the assembling of what was to become Dumbledore's Army in the Hog's Head. Her best friend Ernie Macmillian had done his pompous speech, much to Susan's amusement. As they walked away from the Hog's Head, Susan and Ernie became separated and she found herself alone in the main road.

"Hey Susan!" a voice called out to her from behind and she turned to see Cho running towards her. As Cho caught up, Susan glared at Cho.

"What are you doing talking to a 'mere' Hufflepuff?" Susan asked coldly and Cho flushed.

"Listen, I want to apologise for how my mum treated you." Ch said firmly. "She's an ex-Slytherin who thinks that only Slytherins and Ravenclaws have any brains at all. I'm not the same you know, not for a long time."

Susan looked at Cho suspiciously and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"It's true!" Cho protested vigorously. "My parents don't even want me to do anything that'll upset Umbitch and the ministry!"

Susan swallowed. It wasn't really fair of her to judge Cho on the basis of her parent's beliefs and it wasn't like Cho had to apologise.

"Apology accepted." Susan said and Cho's face burst into a now far too rare smile.

'She's beautiful when she smiles' Susan thought to herself, before dismissing the thought from her head.

"Well I want to repay the favour you did me last year, when you gave me a shoulder to cry on." Cho waved her hand as Susan tried to say it wasn't necessary. "A Chang always pays their debts."

"I'm sure there's noth-" Susan paused mid-sentence. Perhaps there was something Cho could help her with after all. "Are you any good at Potions or Transfiguration at all?"

"I only just passed Transfiguration, but I got an O in Potions. Cho said firmly. "I can help tutor you in Potions if you like."

"I'd like that." Susan answered with a smile, determinedly ignoring the feeling of happy butterflies in her stomach. "Shall we start, say next Friday evening at five?"

"Sounds good to me." Cho replied and the two young witches went their separate ways as Ernie and Marietta found them.

Over the course of the next few months, the two girls met up regularly to study potions and both girls learned a lot about themselves. Cho discovered that she had a knack for teaching even difficult students like Susan potions (Susan was, by her own admission, not much of a potioneer.) and Susan discovered that she had a knack for counselling people who were grieving. (Cho's grief over Cedric Diggory's death was still raw and painful and not helped by her Harry's refusal to talk about it. Not that Susan blamed him, she doubted that SHE'D want to talk about it either.)

An unexpected friendship blossomed between the two girls as they studied, despite their many differences. Cho was an obsessive Tutshill Tornado's fan, while Susan didn't even see the point of Quidditch, preferring races like the Annual Broom Race of Sweden and the Grand Prix. (Something Susan's muggle father introduced her to at a young age.)

And while Susan's preferred reading material included books like_ Hairy Snout, Human Heart_, Cho preferred books like _Quidditch Through The Ages _and _**He Flew Like a Madman. **__Both girls revelled in their many differences, and along with a penchant for gossip, helped form a firm friendship. Sadly, it was not to last. After Marietta Edgecombe betrayed the DA, the two girls quarrelled bitterly._

_"__Your friend betrayed us all! Even you!" Susan yelled angrily. "Why are you being so forgiving?"_

_"__It's not like any of us got caught!" Cho yelled back angrily. "She's just someone who made a bad mistake!"_

_Susan gave a humourless chuckle at Cho's last statement_ "A good person who made a mistake?" Susan sneered in a manner more becoming of a Slytherin than a Hufflepuff. "A good person who made a mistake? IT'S NOT LIKE SHE ACCIDENTLY MENTIONED DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY IN FRONT OF UMBITCH. SHE PLANNED HER BETRAYAL OF US ALL IN COLD BLOOD!"

"Her mother's in the ministry and-"

"So is mine. And my Aunt. And half my family! Yet you don't see SNEAK written across MY face!"

"I'm being loyal to my friend. A friend who's stood by me when all my other friends abandoned me." Cho replied coldly. "Something you 'Puffs should understand." And before Susan could reply, Cho stormed off with tears in her eyes. The most annoying part was, Susan realised to herself, was that Cho was right. Hufflepuffs were loyal to their friends and despite everything, Cho was showing a loyalty to Marietta that would not be out of place in a Hufflepuff.

"Damn it all!" Susan hissed to herself as she felt a feeling of nausea flow over her as she watched Cho's retreating back.

It wasn't until the train journey home that Susan heard Cho's name once more.

"Honestly Susan, I swear you haven't been listening to a word I've said all day!" Hannah Abbot said frustration at Susan. "What's wrong with you?" Susan shook herself.

"Sorry Hannah, I guess I've been thinking about how everything's going to change now that You-Know-Who's been exposed." Susan said, the lie rolling off her tongue without a hesitation. The truth of the matter, she'd been thinking about a certain Ravenclaw girl, almost to the point of obsession. (It was just that she really missed Cho's friendship, at least that's what Susan told herself.)

"Well, here's a bit of news to take your mind off of You-Know-Who." Hannah paused and shuddered at the though of Voldemort. "I hear Michael Corner is dating Cho Chang!"

"Really?" Susan asked as she felt a pang of jealousy stab through her. Shaking her head to clear them of these unwanted thoughts, she focused on what her friend Hannah was saying.

"No kidding, I heard saw them holding hands in Madam Puddifoot's place. I hear her and Potter broke up after what her traitorous little friend Marietta betrayed us." Hannah continued excitedly.

"Yeah, well a pretty girl like her is hardly likely to be short of dates, is she?" Susan replied nonchalantly.

"Talking of dates, didn't you get asked out by none other than Neville Longbottom?" Hannah asked with a knowing smile and Susan blushed.

"Yes, he asked me to be his dance partner at the Goldstein's summer dance."

"And?" Hannah demanded eagerly, her face alight with anticipation.

"I said I'd think about it and send him an owl." Susan finished. Hannah sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Why not just say yes? He's a cute enough boy and practically everyone else who's going already has a partner." Hannah asked and Susan blushed even harder.

"It's kind of hard to understand why he'd want to hang around with a plain girl like me." Susan pointed out, at which point Hannah practically exploded.

"Listen, I'm the one with confidence issues." Hannah started aggressively. "You're a beautiful girl and I'm sure Neville sees that as well."

"If you insist. I'll go with him." Susan replied, but before Hannah or anyone else in their compartment could do say any more, there was the sound of a scuffle outside their compartment as Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle ambushed Harry Potter outside their compartment.

As her wand dropped into her hand, she saw the others had their wands at the ready as well. Raising her wand, she leapt out of the compartment and yelled out "Petrificus Totalus!"

She wasn't the only one who jumped out to Harry's rescue and by the time they were finished, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle resembled nothing more than three giant slugs. The rest of the journey passed in relative peace.

Susan stepped onto the dance floor holding Neville Longbottom's hand. As she did, she noticed Michael Corner and Cho Chang out of the corner of her eye also step onto the dance floor as well. Cho was wearing a knee length, strapless black dress that nicely complimented her figure. Susan's off the shoulder yellow dress robes seemed almost pale by comparison.

"May I have the pleasure of this dance madam?" Neville asked in an exaggerated fashion and Susan laughed to herself.

"Why of course young sir!" she replied with a giggle and Neville pulled her into his arms as they began to dance the night away. It wasn't until the evening was almost over that Susan's father came into the ballroom and approached her with a serious look on his face.

"Susan, I need to speak to you in private." He told her sombrely and Susan followed him into the hallway without argument.

"Neville, I'm sorry, but this is a family concern and I need to hear this on my own." She told Neville and Neville nodded in understanding.

"I'll be waiting for you." He said quietly as he sat down. Susan smiled at him.

"Thanks Neville." Susan replied, grateful for his understanding and gave him a small smile.

"Susan, I have some bad news to tell you." Susan's father told her. "It's about your Aunt Amelia." Susan felt her legs go weak and her stomach turn, as her father confirmed her worse fears. "She was murdered by Death Eaters."

Susan sank to the floor, numb with shock. Susan was close to her Aunt Amelia, more so perhaps than her own mother was.

"But why?" Susan finally asked in a small voice as silent tears started to run down her cheeks.

"Nobody knows why. It could be because of her work at the ministry, or perhaps she upset some Death Eaters with her sentencing." Her father told her sadly.

Susan sat still for what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact only a few minutes. As feeling began to return to her legs, her sadness was swamped aside by a new emotion, one that was not normally associated with Hufflepuffs and certainly not Susan. Red, hot burning anger practically scalded through her as she stood up. Anger at the unfairness of the world and anger at the Death Eaters for killing a woman who she cared deeply about and would have followed to the gates of Hell itself. Standing up, Susan ran as hard as she could outside the building.

Susan couldn't have told you how far she ran, or for how long, but when she finally came to a halt, it was by some bushes. On the other side, she could hear the raised voices of Cho Chang and Michael Corner, clearly in the middle of an argument.

"I told you no Michael!" Cho yelled angrily at Michael. "What part of that don't you get!"

"But Cho, at least listen to what I have to say. Please." Michael shot back disturbingly calm. "As a fellow Ravenclaw, you should be smart enough to realise how this will all end."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR ARGUMENTS ARE! I'M NOT JOINING YOU-KNOW-WHO!" Cho screamed. "HE MURDERED CEDRIC DIGGORY IN COLD BLOOD SIMPLY FOR BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME!"

"I don't like the idea any more than you do, but the fact remains that he's winning and when this war is over, he'll reward those who helped him attain victory." Michael said sullenly. "Please, I don't want you to be one of those people who are killed fighting for the wrong side."

"Well then I'll be dead, and better off for it!" Cho hissed angrily. "We haven't lost yet and even if I have doubts about Harry beating him, I'd rather be dead than join You-Know-Who."

"Then I'm sorry Cho, but I can't let you die." Michael murmured. "Incarcerous."

Susan had heard enough. Crashing through the bushes, her wand was in her hand in seconds with a spell already forming in her mind.

"Stupefy!" Susan yelled and before Michael Corner had a chance to get over the shock of seeing her and he crumpled as the spell hit him firmly in the chest.

"Thanks. How much did you hear?" Cho gasped out as she struggled against the thick ropes that tied her.

"I heard enough. I'm glad you didn't say yes." Susan practically growled.

"As if I would." Cho spat. Her expression then softened as she continued. "Listen, Susan, I'm sorry about breaking up with you. I was wrong to let Marietta come between us."

Susan shook her head. "You were just being a good friend." Susan waved her wand and the ropes fell away. "Friends?" Susan asked as she offered her hand.

"Friends." Cho replied with a grin.

It was towards the end of the school year at Hogwarts that everything changed between the two girls, completely and irrevocably. It was a Saturday and the two were lazily lying besides the lake.

"You know what Cho?" Susan said out of the blue. "There's too much misery and unhappiness going about lately."

Cho looked at Susan and raised an eyebrow. "Well perhaps I can cheer you up?" Cho suggested with a mischievous look in her eye. Bringing her hand up so slowly that Susan didn't notice, Cho began tickling Susan mercilessly.

"Hahahaha, stop it!" Susan begged between giggles as Cho mercilessly continued tickling her and Cho's smiling face was so close to Susan's and suddenly, with almost no warning, Susan pulled forward and kissed Cho impulsively.

There was a moment of stillness as both girls looked at each other quietly. Then, with a strength and passion that seemed unnatural, Cho grabbed Susan's head and pulled her into a passionate and heartfelt kiss and then their kisses became increasingly passionate, their need for each other consuming them until-.

"Bloody hell!" Ernie Macmillian exclaimed and both girls sprang apart, both flustered and embarrassed. "A little discretion ladies please! You don't want to get CAUGHT do you?"

Cho and Susan shook their heads simultaneously. Both of them knew that homosexuality was illegal in the wizarding world and being caught would result in them both being expelled into the muggle world with their wands broken.

"Well be careful then!" Ernie continued.

"Y-y-your not going to report us?" Cho asked slowly and Ernie shook his head.

"I might be an officious prat, but I'm loyal to my friends." He said firmly. "Besides, its not like you're hurting anyone, is it?"

Susan flashed Ernie a thankful grin, before leading Cho off to somewhere a little more private.

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BAMN!

The Death Eater Susan had been fighting screamed as one of Cho's 'potion bombs' exploded over him. As the potion ignited and set the Death Eater aflame, Susan turned and murmured "Thanks" to her lover.

"Just concentrate on fighting all these damn Death Eaters" Cho shot back as she levitated another jar of liquid fire straight into the heart of a group of attacking Death Eaters.

"No pro-" Susan was cut off mid-sentence as a dark curse hit her in the gut and she collapsed to the ground. With a scream, Cho threw herself at the Death Eater responsible and unleashed enough magic into him that the Death Eater practically disintegrated.

Checking for a pulse and finding none, Cho let out a primordial scream of rage and threw herself into battle, fighting and fighting and fighting without any thought to her own safety or survival at all. For a brief time, it looked like she would stop the forces of darkness by herself, as curse after curse missed her time and again. But it was not to last. It was Bellatrix Lestrange who threw the curse that killed Cho, hitting her firmly in the chest. There was a moments silence and then Cho hit the ground dead. Her body was buried alongside Susan's. A testimony to the love that they were unable to publicly show in life, acknowledged in death.

AN: Not my best piece, but that's life. A summary of the books I mentioned earlier is shown below. The titles were obtained from the website .info/hogwarts/hogwarts_

_**He Flew Like a Madman**_ by Kennilworthy Whisp  
A biography of "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn, mentioned on the About the Author page of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ (QA).

_**Hairy Snout, Human Heart**_ An anonymous werewolf wrote this book, described by Scamander as "a heartrending account of one wizard's battle with lycanthropy"

Word count: 3104 (I know the word limits supposed to be 3000 words, but it just didn't fit. Sorry Hufflepuff.)


	3. Two minds

Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter! (Is promptly destroyed by JK's lawyers.) Ok, maybe not.

For the third challenge in the competition, I am using the fifth prompt table, labelled humour. I am using all of the words/phrases in the prompt table. Words/Phrases from the prompt table are in _italics_

Ron Weasley closed his eyes and relaxed in the sun. With the sun shining and the garden in full bloom, creating a riot of colour in the garden of his cottage. He felt extremely content and nothing was going to spoil his relaxing day, not even Rose's guest.

Ron opened his eyes briefly and sent a glare towards the upper floor of their house, a small white cottage of mock-Tudor design. Rose was possibly the oddest member of the Weasley/Potter clan since Ron's Uncle Bilius. Still, he'd learned to accept his daughter's oddities, such as collecting _spoons_ or being the only Weasley in Ravenclaw and even her persistent attempts to befriend dragons. (This last one Ron blamed on Hagrid's influence.)

As Ron leaned back and closed his eyes once more, there was a sudden explosion from Rose's room and he was suddenly subjected to a brief shower of _bras_.

"ROSE!" he bellowed as he jumped to his feet.

Upstairs, Scorpius was grinning at Rose, who was lying sprawled out over her bedroom floor. Rose glared right back.

"Honestly Rose, only you could be so clumsy as to trip and fall a full two metres." Scorpius commented smiling. Rose glared at him.

"_I'm not clumsy! The floor just hates me!"_ Rose protested. "And if you think I'm such a klutz why did you let me carry such a volatile potion?"

Scorpius tactfully decided not to mention that Rose had insisted on carrying the potion. Or that the potion was meant to be very stable, but somehow, Rose had managed to turn a simple sleeping potion into an explosive weapon. As Ron thundered up the stairs, Scorpius shot Rose a quick look.

"What the hell happened here?" Ron gasped out. He turned and faced Scorpius. "You'd better have not hurt her or I'll-"

"Dad I'm FINE!" Rose interrupted. "Really. All I did was accidentally drop my potion jar."

"Only dropped your potion jar? What the hell was in it?" Ron asked curiously.

"Umm…" Rose flailed around as she tried to find a way of telling her father that she'd managed to mess up yet another potion and would probably be spending ANOTHER year being held back in Potions again.

"It was an experimental apparition potion Mr Weasley, of my own design." Scorpius cut in, determined to save Rose the sight of her father's disappointed face once more.

"Well it seems to work." Ron told Scorpius with amusement, "But try not to have the object apparate mid-air." He finished as he handed Rose her bras.

As Ron finished going downstairs, Rose sank down onto her bed with a dejected expression.

"Thanks Scor, but there's no way I'm ever going to pass Potions!" Rose exclaimed sadly. Tears of frustration began to form and Rose grimaced against them. "Honestly, I must be the only Ravenclaw who DOESN'T GET POTIONS!"

"You'll get it, even if I have to drag you through your Potions exam personally." Scorpius replied fiercely.

"Not all of us are Potions genius's like you Scor." Rose pointed out exasperatedly.

"_You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me_." Scorpius shot back in a perfectly serious voice. As Rose gave him a look, he decided to switch the subject. "I think we should take a break from your Potions class for a little while."

"I don't think dad would've been half as accepting if I didn't need so much help with Potions." Rose pointed out.

"And somehow I think my dad wouldn't let me come if I wasn't failing Transfiguration. Scorpius added. "I don't get why our parents have to be so stubborn about us seeing each other during the summer holidays."

"Yeah. In twenty years time, when I'm in therapy, I'll be telling _my therapist_ about how our parents, especially our fathers, decided to make our lives impossible." Rose added dramatically.

"Then perhaps you could use spies techniques to meet up." Hugo suggested from the doorway, causing Rose and Scorpius to jump in surprise. Rose's face took on an excited look.

"It could be just like that _Superspy_ game Hugo and I used to play, with _fake moustaches_ and invisible ink-"

"And dead-letter drops and secret codes!" Scorpius continued excitedly. "And-"

Hugo closed the door before he heard any more and shook his head in amusement. It seemed that despite their different strengths, Rose and Scorpius existed on the same wavelength, namely weird.


	4. First crush

Disclaimer: JK's lawyers are scary. I don't own HP.

AN: This is for the fourth challenge, to romantically pair an individual with someone of a different house. In this case, I've been given Hannah Abbot and have set up a pairing with Draco Malfoy.

Hannah nervously fiddled with her pigtails as she stood lurking in the corner of the Slytherin dungeons. If her best friends Ernie and Susan could see her, they'd probably laugh and with good reason. Hell, if anyone had told her that she'd fall for this boy when they first met just over a year ago, she'd have called them crazy.

The trouble with her assessment a year ago was that she was still a child then. Last year, she'd been a scared young first year. Hannah had grown up a bit since then and now in her second year, Hannah was beginning to develop her female figure. Ok, it wasn't by much, but at least she WAS growing in the right directions.

There was a slow, creaking sound as the Slytherin dungeons opened and Hannah tensed up in nervous anticipation. She felt her mouth go dry and her heart began pounding so hard, Hannah was surprised that it didn't jump out of her chest. As he walked into view, flanked as he was by Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson.

"I don't see why you can't tell us anything Draco!" Pansy whined in a shrill tone of voice. "What is it that's so important that you can't TELL US!" Hannah leaned forward slightly, her curiosity aroused. (And if she was honest, she wanted to get a close look at the pale-blonde love of her life, Draco Malfoy.)

"I've told you already Pansy, I don't know what's happening. All I know is that something's going to happen to do what needs doing at Hogwarts!" Draco snapped back in annoyance. "My father won't tell me anything else." Suddenly Nott stopped and hushed them with a sudden "Shhh"

"What is Nott?" Draco asked quietly. Nott pointed to where Hannah was and as one, all three Slytherins turned and faced Hannah, who blushed bright red at being caught spying.

"Isn't she that stupid 'Puff girl who likes you Draco?" Pansy screeched and Hannah winced.

"As if I'd waste my time with a 'Puff." Draco sneered in response and Hannah felt tears come to her eyes. As she turned to leave, Draco called out to her once more.

"I'm not through talking to you little 'Puff. You're not bad looking." He said and Hannah felt a sharp pang of hope shoot through her. Perhaps he did like her after all. Suddenly Draco whipped out his wand and yelled out "Locomotor Mortis!" and Hannah's legs locked up. As she fell over, Draco slowly walked over to her and looked down.

"Now don't bother me again little 'Puff. I'm out of your league." Draco sneered and Hannah winced once more. As he walked away with the other Slytherins, Hannah slowly pulled herself up and started hopping towards the Hufflepuff common room. With any luck, someone would know the counter-curse.

Fortunately for Hannah, she DID run into someone who knew the counter-curse, none other than her best friend Ernie Macmillian.

"Who did this to you Hannah?" He asked curiously as he performed the counter-curse.

"Draco." She replied and Ernie's face darkened.

"Why I ought to curse him int-" Ernie hissed, but Susan interrupted him mid-flow.

"Ernie, that's sweet, but I think he did it because I was sort of following him." With these words, Hannah blushed.

"Following him? Why?" Ernie asked, clearly surprised. Hannah blushed even harder.

"Well, I kind-of like him." By this time, Hannah was blushing so hard that she was practically glowing. Ernie simply sighed.

"I'm guessing the feelings not mutual." Then a wicked grin came over his features. "Hannah and Malfoy, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"Oh do shut up!" Hannah snapped playfully as she slapped his arm gently. "I'm sure I could get him to change his bullying ways, I'm sure of it!"

Ernie snorted. "Yeah and I'm a pixie!"

And in time, Hannah got over Draco Malfoy. By the time she got on the train home, the only emotion she felt for Draco was hatred.

One year later, approximately the middle of the third year.

Draco Malfoy was not used to feeling like this at all. Draco was used to being in control of how he felt about others. But as he glanced across to the Hufflepuff table once more, he gave himself a mental shake. The girl was a HUFFLEPUFF for crying out loud! But a Hufflepuff with an impeccable blood lineage. (Admittedly a lineage that was slightly tainted, but it was still a good lineage.) And of course, there was her impressive beauty, with her stunning blonde pigtails and slightly pink face. Puberty had just hit Draco with a vengeance.

Shaking himself, Draco picked himself up and followed Hannah out of the great hall.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hannah asked in a slightly hostile tone. Draco swallowed hard.

"Iwaswonderingifyou'dliketogoonadatewithme." Draco garbled out.

"Pardon Malfoy." Hannah replied, rising an eyebrow. Draco swallowed again and forced himself to calm down. He was Draco Malfoy, for God's sake! He was ALWAYS in control that was what a Malfoy was supposed to be like. He took a deep breath.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me?" He asked again, this time more confidently.

"Go out with you!" Hannah asked in surprise.

"Yes, go out with me. On a date." He said firmly. Hannah's next words shattered his heart into little pieces.

"F#$ off Malfoy!" Hannah hissed.

As Draco chased Hannah up the corridor, Lady Fate burst out laughing. Years later, Draco would deny all knowledge of this event and so would Hannah.

AN: Before someone points out that Draco sounds a little ooc at the end, I feel the need to point out that he's a lovestruck teenager at this point and probably not entirely up to his usual standards. Besides, I couldn't resist having a little fun with this one;D


	5. A pact

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I don't own Dragonforce's song, Through the fire and the flames.

AN: This is a response to the fifth challenge, to produce a fic inspired by four lines of a song. The challenge also states that I must use a house that I haven't used in ch2 and 4. In my case, this only leaves Gryffindor. The song is 'Through the fire and the flames' by Dragonforce and the lines in question are stated below.

Now here we stand with their blood on our hands,

We fought so hard, now can we understand,

I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can,

For freedom of every man.

This fic is set during the brief interlude during the battle of Hogwarts.

Parvati Patil nervously paced up and down the corridor, just outside the Great Hall. Even though the wounded and the dead had been gathered up there, including her best friend Lavender Brown, Parvati couldn't bring herself to stay in the Great Hall.

It wasn't the cries of the wounded that bothered her, or the dead bodies that were piling up as the dead were brought in. No, what really bothered her, was the fact that the battle wasn't over yet. Dodging curses and throwing spells back left very little time to think and after a battle, well it was over and there was time to grief and recover and think. But this, this was just wrong. Voldemort had given Harry one hour to give himself up and calmness had come over the battlefield. The battle wasn't over and that just felt wrong.

"You ok there?" a girls voice asked and Parvati turned to see Ginny Weasley standing at the door of the Great Hall with a look of concern on her face. "You look like you need to talk."

"I think so." Parvati replied firmly. "I just…can't take this waiting, this not-finished feeling."

"I know, but-"

"The stupid thing is, I used to be envious of the golden trio." Parvati continued, a sudden need to unburden herself to someone, anyone. "I always thought that was what it meant to BE Gryffindor, being like them. But now, in the middle of all this," Parvati waved at the battlefield, "and through all the fear and blood on our hands, I think I begin to understand what they've had to go through, time and again, to protect us all."

Ginny gave a bitter laugh, high pitched and unnatural in its sound.

"As long as it's the blood of Death Eaters and their ilk, I'll live with it." Ginny's expression hardened. "These b#~%$%£$'s want to kill my boyfriend and my family. I'm not exactly sympathetic to their cause." Parvati smiled sadly.

"Ginny, what do you suppose will happen to us if Harry doesn't defeat _**him**_?" Parvati asked nervously. Again, this was not down to any sense of friendship between the two girls, (Parvati and Ginny barely registered one another in all their years at Hogwarts, truth be told.) but out of a desperate need to talk at all.

"Harry'll win, that I'm sure of!" Ginny snapped aggressively. "And until then, we fight."

"No matter what." Parvati finished in a quiet voice, as new determination filled her. Where it came from, she had no idea, but it seemed like her Gryffindor streak had awoken once more. "We'll fight to end this so-called dark lords cursed reign, no matter what. Because I'm damned if I'll live as a slave to _**him**_ and his kind."

"For freedom for all people, no matter what." Ginny added with a grim smile. "We'll see this through. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Parvati shot back. "To the end of You-Know-Who and his cursed regime."


	6. The sorting

Disclaimer: No I don't own HP.

AN: This is my response to the sixth challenge. To produce a canon 'missing moment' from the HP series. The moment also has to be taken in a first person perspective, so I apologise if this isn't up to my usual standards.

I nervously twiddled my fingers and spun my wand around between my hands. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. If you were in my shoes, you'd be as well and anyone who says otherwise is BS-ing like mad. (Yes I'm talking to you, James Sirius Potter, you lying git.)

Now most witches and wizards are scared when they first come to Hogwarts and are facing their sorting. (And those who aren't are just plain stupid, or as I said, BS-ing like mad.) But my case was somewhat different. See, not only is my father Harry Potter (Yes, as in THAT Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world etc.), but I also happen to look a lot like him and everyone expects me to follow in his footsteps. Well everyone who isn't family anyway. And isn't my little sister Lily. (Which is good, as we're a little short on dark lords at the moment. Unless I'M meant to fill the role of dark lord. Scary.

Dad says he'll be fine with whatever house I get sorted into and mum's the same. But as I stand here, looking at the sorting hat sort yet another scared kid, (Pott's, Harry, Hufflepuff.) I swallow hard and wonder. Being sorted into Gryffindor is a long-standing trait for both Potter's and Weasley's, practically a tradition. Not getting into Gryffindor would probably come as a disappointment, despite mum and dad's words to the contrary. (I've spent far too much time in Aunt Hermione's company! I chastise myself mentally.)

The sorting has passed in a bit of a blur and I doubt I could tell you much about the sortings. In fact, Professor Longbottom has just called my name out for the second time. Blushing, I step up to the sorting hats stool. As I sit down, I see James mouths "Slytherin" to me. I give him a barely noticeable one-fingered salute and the sorting hat goes down on my head, ready to determine my house for the next seven years. And as the hat goes over my eyes, I swallow hard and steel myself for whatever the result is.

AN: Before anyone points out that I haven't mentioned his house, please bear in mind that there isn't a canon house for him and I wanted to leave it deliberately ambiguous.


	7. An unexpected pleasure

Disclaimer: I might wish I owned HP, but that doesn't mean I do.

AN: Responding to the seventh and final chapter of the forum-wide competition, this time to create a pairing between two individuals in separate canon pairings, BUT keeping the story in canon. The judges choose the pairing and in my case it's Hermione/Angelina Johnson. This story is set during book four, on the night of the Yule ball.

Hermione stormed angrily up into the Gryffindor girl's dormitories, practically hissing in anger. The sheer nerve of that boy! It had been a lovely night with Victor and he'd even given her a goodnight kiss at the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. But then Ron had to spoil it by attacking her choice of partner.

Shaking herself, Hermione breathed in slowly and exhaled equally slowly. It was no good, she was simply too wound up to go to sleep.

"Hey Hermione, you look annoyed." Lavender said as she walked into the dormitory. "What's up? Did things go badly with Victor Krum?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, the dance was great. It was just…Ron's reaction, that's all."

"Oh." Lavender said, her voice slightly disappointed that Hermione didn't have anything juicier to gossip about. Then she brightened up. "Well Parvati and I are joining some of the others for a drinking game of spin the bottle. We're one short, wanna come?"

Hermione frowned slightly. "I don't think I sh-" she started, but Lavender cut her off.

"Come on Granger, live a little." Lavender's voice was challenging and Hermione decided to be uncharacteristically reckless for once. She wanted to be more than Harry and Ron's bookworm friend.

"You're on Lav!" Hermione shot back and followed Lavender upstairs into a guestroom at the top of the tower. In the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor in a circle, were a group of girls Hermione knew, if only in passing. On one side sat the Patil twins and Ginny Weasley. On the other sat Angelina Johnson. There was space on her side, one for Lavender and presumably one for their extra number.

"Hey Lav, did you find someone to fill in the gap?" Parvati asked, unable to see Hermione behind Lavender. Lavender grinned.

"I most certainly did Parvati." She said with a flourish. Stepping aside with an exaggerated flourish, Lavender waved her hand at Hermione and said. "May I introduce the one and only, Hermione Granger!"

Ginny raised her eyebrows as Hermione stepped forward. She wasn't the only one either.

"Wow. Didn't know you had it in you Hermione!" Angela said excitedly. "Come on, sit down."

Hermione grinned at them. "I do know how to have fun you know." She replied with a grin. "My best friends are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and you KNOW what those two are like."

"Well take a seat." Angelina said with a smile. "The rules of the game are simple. We spin the bottle and whomever it points to has to take a shot of Firewhisky and either a truth or a dare. The person who the bottle landed on last spins the bottle and the person who spins the bottle decides on the truth or dare the person does. You clear on that?" Hermione nodded and sat down. "Then let the games begin!" Angelina continued as she spun the bottle.

The first person the bottle pointed to was Hermione. Taking a glass from Angelina, Hermione downed the shot in one swift motion. Her reaction as the fiery, burning liquid went down her throat caused plenty of laughs as she coughed and spluttered and felt tears come to her eyes.

"What," Hermione choked out, "was THAT!" Angelina smiled sympathetically.

"First time drinking Firewhisky?" She asked smiling. "Sure you can handle it?"

"Not going to be a problem." Hermione countered.

"Truth or dare?" Angelina asked and Hermione looked the older girl firmly in the eye.

"Truth." Hermione answered calmly.

"Ok then. Have you ever had a crush on someone who's already taken?" Angelina shot out. Hermione blushed a deep red and looked downwards.

"Yes" she whispered.

"Ooh. Who?" Lavender and Parvati said simultaneously.

"That's another question girls." Angelina cut in. Flashing her a grateful smile, Hermione spun the bottle.

Two hours and eleven shots of Firewhisky later and their little group was starting to look a little worse for wear. It had been, however, an interesting evening, especially for gossip. (It had been a real eye-opener. Who knew that Padma Patil had had a crush on Professor Snape? And that Parvati was attracted to Professor Trelawney?) And the dares had been equally vivid. (The most memorable perhaps was Lavender's mooning of the Fat Lady.) As she rubbed her eyes, Hermione staggered to her feet, swaying slightly.

"I think…" Hermione started, slurring her words as she spoke. "I think I'll go to bed."

"Come on Hermione, just one lashed go." Parvati said, putting her hand on the bottle. Setting the bottle spinning, it came to rest on Hermione. "Come on 'Mione, one last dare."

"Fine. ONE last dare." Hermione countered with a smirk.

"Ok then. I dare you to give Ange-ge-ge." Parvati shook her head and pointed to Angelina. "I dare you to give her a full on snog, like you really like her."

"Is that it Patil?" Hermione replied with a smirk. Turning unsteadily on her feet to face Angelina, and sashayed over to the older girl swinging her hips in a distinctly sexy manner. Bending over Angelina, Hermione pulled Angelina's head up towards her face and began to passionately kiss her. The experience was however proving to be more of a turn on than she expected.

Angelina steadily stood up. Unlike Hermione, Angelina could hold her drink pretty well and was at least able to stand without difficulty. With a steady hand, she gently led Hermione to one of the four-poster beds in the guestroom. As their kissing became steadily more and more passionate, passionately undressing one another with a fervour that seemed almost…unhealthy. Reaching the bed, the two girls now naked forms collapsed to form a pile of writhing limbs on the bed.

Hermione let out a groan as she slowly opened her eyes. A splitting headache, dry mouth and slightly sick feeling in her stomach did not make for a good start to the day. Hermione noticed, as she moved her head, that she was resting on the naked body of another girl. As she looked down and realised that she was also naked, the memories of what she had been DOING with this girl flashed through her mind. Sweet Merlin, if and when the rest of the school gossip chain heard about what the two of them had been DOING got out then…It didn't bear thinking about.

Although, if Hermione was honest with herself, it had been an amazing experience. However, Hermione had expected her first orgasm at a boy's hand, not a girl.

Looking around the room though, it appeared that Hermione and Angelina were not the only ones who were…intimate during the night. On one of the beds lay Lavender Brown, entangled with her friend Parvati. On the other was Ginny Weasley, resting her head on Padma Patil's clearly naked chest.

As the girls woke up, an unspoken agreement came into existence. They never spoke of the events of that night to anyone.

00000000000000000000000000

Twenty years later.

Hermione looked at Ron and George, who were busy de-gnoming the garden and Molly had insisted the girls join her in the kitchen.

"Do you remember the night of the Yule ball?" Angelina asked with a small smile. Hermione chuckled.

"As if I could forget." She replied.

"Do you think they'd ever guess?" Angelina continued, nodding her head towards the garden, where Ron was struggling with a particularly stubborn gnome.

"Not a chance." Hermione countered with a smile.

AN: Pushing the boundaries here, I have to say this is probably the single hardest piece I've ever had to write. The build up to the sex scene was particularly difficult. I'm not entirely pleased with the results, but what's done is done. Please R&R


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